The key thing is that lisp type (and most functional) languages, including Clojure, emphasize function application and (often) recursion. Array languages try t

The key thing is that lisp type (and most functional) languages, including Clojure, emphasize function application and (often) recursion. Array languages try to get you to formulate your problem in terms of batch applications across whole vectors at a time, rather than piece by piece. Which is actually potentially insanely faster on modern hardware where branches are expensive and we have special SIMD and/or vector hardware support.